Mr. Clemens First Trip Report: Myanmar and Brazil! DL J, KE J, CX F, AA J&F, AS F
Apr 11, 2016, 11:04 pm
#1
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Mr. Clemens First Trip Report: Myanmar and Brazil! DL J, KE J, CX F, AA J&F, AS F
Hello FlyerTalk community! I've been a periodic contributor to the Alaska Airlines MileagePlan forum, but this is my first trip report. Please be kind!
The story is fairly simple: the first gift I gave to my boyfriend (now-fiancé, as you’ll no doubt see in a future report) was a small Rilakkuma teddy bear, whom he affectionately named “Mr. Clemens.” Mr. Clemens traveled with us until he was lost one fateful day during a tight connection at LAX, on our way to Puerto Vallarta. About a year later, he made his way back to us after a year of traveling the world, even sending Kaio this card:
I may have hastened his return via Amazon, but let’s not dwell on details…
I’ve been blessed with a love of travel and an occupation that enables such exploration. Beginning last December, and with each of our adventures to come, we’ll be documenting Mr. Clemens’ adventures. And since he’s a visually-oriented bear, his trip reports are of the video-variety.
Which brings us to Mr. Clemens’s first trip reports: a bit of traveling last December/January spanning over 30,000 miles from Seattle to Myanmar (for business) and continuing on to Brazil for Christmas and New Year’s (for play).
The full trip includes:
• SEA to ICN – Delta 199 – Delta One (Business) – 767-300
• ICN to RGN – Korean Air 471 – Prestige Class (Business) – A330-200
• RGN to BSX – Myanmar National Airlines (Charter)
• BSX to RGN – Myanmar National Airlines (Charter)
• RGN to HKG – DragonAir 251 – Business – A321
• HKG to LAX – Cathay Pacific 884 – First Class – 777-300ER
• LAX to GRU – American Airlines 215 – Business Class – 787-8
• GIG to JFK – American Airlines 974 – Business Class – 777-200
• JFK to LAX – American Airlines 1 – First Class – A321
• LAX to SEA – Alaska Airlines 323 – First Class – 737-900
So without further adieu, meet Mr. Clemens as he wakes up at home in Seattle and sets out on his first trip report!
And because a true trip report includes at least getting airborne – here’s the second part as well!
Hope you enjoy these as much as we've had making them. Will post the next installment shortly! In the meantime, feel free to subscribe to this thread or Mr. Clemens YouTube channel here!
The story is fairly simple: the first gift I gave to my boyfriend (now-fiancé, as you’ll no doubt see in a future report) was a small Rilakkuma teddy bear, whom he affectionately named “Mr. Clemens.” Mr. Clemens traveled with us until he was lost one fateful day during a tight connection at LAX, on our way to Puerto Vallarta. About a year later, he made his way back to us after a year of traveling the world, even sending Kaio this card:
I may have hastened his return via Amazon, but let’s not dwell on details…
I’ve been blessed with a love of travel and an occupation that enables such exploration. Beginning last December, and with each of our adventures to come, we’ll be documenting Mr. Clemens’ adventures. And since he’s a visually-oriented bear, his trip reports are of the video-variety.
Which brings us to Mr. Clemens’s first trip reports: a bit of traveling last December/January spanning over 30,000 miles from Seattle to Myanmar (for business) and continuing on to Brazil for Christmas and New Year’s (for play).
The full trip includes:
• SEA to ICN – Delta 199 – Delta One (Business) – 767-300
• ICN to RGN – Korean Air 471 – Prestige Class (Business) – A330-200
• RGN to BSX – Myanmar National Airlines (Charter)
• BSX to RGN – Myanmar National Airlines (Charter)
• RGN to HKG – DragonAir 251 – Business – A321
• HKG to LAX – Cathay Pacific 884 – First Class – 777-300ER
• LAX to GRU – American Airlines 215 – Business Class – 787-8
• GIG to JFK – American Airlines 974 – Business Class – 777-200
• JFK to LAX – American Airlines 1 – First Class – A321
• LAX to SEA – Alaska Airlines 323 – First Class – 737-900
So without further adieu, meet Mr. Clemens as he wakes up at home in Seattle and sets out on his first trip report!
And because a true trip report includes at least getting airborne – here’s the second part as well!
Hope you enjoy these as much as we've had making them. Will post the next installment shortly! In the meantime, feel free to subscribe to this thread or Mr. Clemens YouTube channel here!
Apr 12, 2016, 4:26 pm
#2
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From Yangon the the beach!
Mr. Clemens first day in Myanmar included a nice breakfast meeting at our hotel (the Sule Shangri-La) followed by a quick morning walk around central Yangon, where we took in the beauty of the Sule Pagoda, as well as the bustling street markets on 26th street. Our morning was cut short, however, so we could hurry to the airport for our charter flight to Pathein.
The domestic terminal at Yangon Airport is quite a juxtaposition to the modernity of the international terminal sitting beside it. The domestic terminal's cavernous departures hall feels like it's from a different era, complete with massive bronze scales to weigh luggage, and intricately carved wooden columns and bannisters. Check-in at the cardboard-clad booths was quite the experience -- I don't think our ID's were even checked before we were handed boarding passes. And I believe our production company even had to pay for the charter flight in cash, since they wouldn't accept western credit cards.
On board finally, the flight was even more surreal. After taxiing to the runway, the pilot and co-pilot (who were 10 feet in front of us) spent a few minutes trying to get the GPS systems to boot up, each time without success. The plane was filled with the sound of "warning...warning...navigation system not operational" (or something along those lines) and the display remained black. The pilot turned around, happily chewing betel-nut and said "don't worry, I know where we're going," then smiled a wide, red-stained smile, and turned the warning volume nob to mute. And we were off!
What followed was a relatively uneventful flight (thankfully it was daytime and the pilots could fly by sight), but then it came time to land. I'll leave you to the see the video for that part... let's just say I wouldn't have been surprised if Tom Cruise had been in Pathein filming stunts for a movie that day...
From Pathein, we met our local driver and spent the rest of the afternoon driving like a rocket-ship to our final destination of the day, the Bay of Bengal Resort in Ngwe Saung Beach.
Apr 15, 2016, 12:23 am
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Apr 16, 2016, 5:15 pm
#7
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A little work, a lot of play!
After two travel-packed days making his way to Ngwe Saung Beach, it was finally time for Mr. Clemens (and me) to get to work! But before I continue with Mr. Clemens's story, I feel it’s pertinent that I provide some quick personal background and caveats (feel free to skip on to his story if you like):
Ngwe Saung Beach would serve as our headquarters for the three-day television commercial shoot we were in Myanmar to conduct. On these shoots, the first part includes a “pre-pro meeting” to align on all the final specifics of the production, followed by a day of frenzied work by the production company to prepare for the shoot day(s). As a “client” on location, this usually means there’s a relative lull between the pre-pro and the beginning of shooting in which Mr. Clemens can relax and enjoy himself – assuming we’ve done everything right leading up to production! This trip report represents that lull.
We began the morning with the pre-pro meeting, then celebrated its successful conclusion with a splash of Johnnie Walker Blue (an absolute steal at the equivalent of USD$10 a pour). As we very quickly decided, the low price was likely due to liberally-watered-down-nature of whatever we were drinking. But, no matter – we had a full day ahead of us!
We arranged with the hotel to have a boat pick us up for an exciting afternoon of snorkeling. The brochure at the front desk depicted a beautiful, brand new speed boat. What arrived was a bit…older…and rustier…without a pane of unbroken glass. But at least there were life vests!
Mr. Clemens enjoyed the afternoon snorkeling at multiple points around “Bird Nest Island.” In what was starting to become a theme, there were quite a few less fish than the brochure promised. But that was the end of any relative disappointment when we saw the outlines of another island on the horizon with a bright white beach. We asked about it and were told it was actually coral, not sand – and that we could happily go check it out for another USD$20. It was the best $20 Mr. Clemens spent all trip. I'll leave you to the video for that bit.
The night wrapped up with a beautiful dinner and fireworks on the beach – a perfect conclusion to a memorable day.
Next up – really getting down to work. Three days of shooting (and a whole lot of driving) in Myanmar…
My role:
I work at Microsoft in global advertising, and my job back in December included managing the creative development and production of television commercials for our cloud business.
Travel as a requirement, a responsibility, and a perk of the job:
We don't usually stay at luxury resorts when traveling on business, or fly first class. We try to be as financially responsible as possible, which means spending the resources necessary to get the job done well. Microsoft is a public company, and we are all employees as well as shareholders!
Given the remoteness of our shoot locations, lack of a well-established tourism industry in newly-opening Myanmar, and our large 40+ person crew, the only accommodations available were large honey-moon-style resorts along the beach. And even those required 3+ hour drives to set and back each day. Our corporate policy allows for business class travel on international itinerates. On this trip in particular, I used my own miles to upgrade to CX F on the LAX-HKG leg (yet to come in a future post).
Being a conscientious traveler:
While Mr. Clemens's adventures are light-hearted, there are unavoidable ethical considerations when visiting countries like Myanmar. While I do not know the exact specifics about the resort in which we stayed, ones like it tend to be owned by members of the government’s ruling class, and foreign money spent at these resorts has helped to keep them wealthy and in power. While the country is in transition, making strides towards a more open and fair democracy, the unavoidable truth is that the few resorts available are only accessible to the very wealthy, politically elite classes – and foreign tourists such as ourselves. While I can't solve these problems myself, I hope to be able to push the needle by traveling to such countries, meeting the people there, and having the opportunity to tell their stories: here and in the ads I make.
Now back to Mr. Clemens travels...)
I work at Microsoft in global advertising, and my job back in December included managing the creative development and production of television commercials for our cloud business.
Travel as a requirement, a responsibility, and a perk of the job:
We don't usually stay at luxury resorts when traveling on business, or fly first class. We try to be as financially responsible as possible, which means spending the resources necessary to get the job done well. Microsoft is a public company, and we are all employees as well as shareholders!
Given the remoteness of our shoot locations, lack of a well-established tourism industry in newly-opening Myanmar, and our large 40+ person crew, the only accommodations available were large honey-moon-style resorts along the beach. And even those required 3+ hour drives to set and back each day. Our corporate policy allows for business class travel on international itinerates. On this trip in particular, I used my own miles to upgrade to CX F on the LAX-HKG leg (yet to come in a future post).
Being a conscientious traveler:
While Mr. Clemens's adventures are light-hearted, there are unavoidable ethical considerations when visiting countries like Myanmar. While I do not know the exact specifics about the resort in which we stayed, ones like it tend to be owned by members of the government’s ruling class, and foreign money spent at these resorts has helped to keep them wealthy and in power. While the country is in transition, making strides towards a more open and fair democracy, the unavoidable truth is that the few resorts available are only accessible to the very wealthy, politically elite classes – and foreign tourists such as ourselves. While I can't solve these problems myself, I hope to be able to push the needle by traveling to such countries, meeting the people there, and having the opportunity to tell their stories: here and in the ads I make.
Now back to Mr. Clemens travels...)
Ngwe Saung Beach would serve as our headquarters for the three-day television commercial shoot we were in Myanmar to conduct. On these shoots, the first part includes a “pre-pro meeting” to align on all the final specifics of the production, followed by a day of frenzied work by the production company to prepare for the shoot day(s). As a “client” on location, this usually means there’s a relative lull between the pre-pro and the beginning of shooting in which Mr. Clemens can relax and enjoy himself – assuming we’ve done everything right leading up to production! This trip report represents that lull.
We began the morning with the pre-pro meeting, then celebrated its successful conclusion with a splash of Johnnie Walker Blue (an absolute steal at the equivalent of USD$10 a pour). As we very quickly decided, the low price was likely due to liberally-watered-down-nature of whatever we were drinking. But, no matter – we had a full day ahead of us!
We arranged with the hotel to have a boat pick us up for an exciting afternoon of snorkeling. The brochure at the front desk depicted a beautiful, brand new speed boat. What arrived was a bit…older…and rustier…without a pane of unbroken glass. But at least there were life vests!
Mr. Clemens enjoyed the afternoon snorkeling at multiple points around “Bird Nest Island.” In what was starting to become a theme, there were quite a few less fish than the brochure promised. But that was the end of any relative disappointment when we saw the outlines of another island on the horizon with a bright white beach. We asked about it and were told it was actually coral, not sand – and that we could happily go check it out for another USD$20. It was the best $20 Mr. Clemens spent all trip. I'll leave you to the video for that bit.
The night wrapped up with a beautiful dinner and fireworks on the beach – a perfect conclusion to a memorable day.
Next up – really getting down to work. Three days of shooting (and a whole lot of driving) in Myanmar…
Apr 23, 2016, 1:29 pm
#8
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A video about shooting video in Myanmar...
I won't bore you with too many written details in this post, as that would be writing about a video about the making of a video of a story .... so yeah.
Main takeaways:
- Myanmar is a beautiful country
- Shooting (film) there is a logistical nightmare that requires lots and lots of driving
- There's nothing more satisfying than giving a group of kids chocolate for their first time!
And for those of you interested, here's the finished television commercial that we were in Myamar to shoot!
Apr 24, 2016, 10:50 am
#9
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From a remote villiage to flying high in CX F!
Now the post that all you FlyerTalk premium-cabin-fetishists have been waiting for, traveling from Myanmar to Los Angeles!
This part of the report includes a leg from HKG to LAX in Cathay First (upgraded with personal miles), as well as a long layover in which Mr. Clemens takes a nap in a private Day Suite, explores The Pier and The Wing, and takes numerous bubble baths (one in his private Cabana Suite and the others of the Krug variety)!
The trip starts in a very remote village in the Irrawaddy Delta region of Myanmar, then Mr. Clemens is transported by:
Quite the list but only half of his trip, as he'll be reuniting with Kaio in Los Angeles before continuing on to Brazil for Christmas in business class on an American Airlines 787-8! That part of the report up next...
This part of the report includes a leg from HKG to LAX in Cathay First (upgraded with personal miles), as well as a long layover in which Mr. Clemens takes a nap in a private Day Suite, explores The Pier and The Wing, and takes numerous bubble baths (one in his private Cabana Suite and the others of the Krug variety)!
The trip starts in a very remote village in the Irrawaddy Delta region of Myanmar, then Mr. Clemens is transported by:
- Motorbike
- Off-road van
- River boat
- Production van
- Chartered single-prop plane
- A321, and finally a
- 777-300ER
Quite the list but only half of his trip, as he'll be reuniting with Kaio in Los Angeles before continuing on to Brazil for Christmas in business class on an American Airlines 787-8! That part of the report up next...
Apr 25, 2016, 11:50 am
#10
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After taxiing to the runway, the pilot and co-pilot (who were 10 feet in front of us) spent a few minutes trying to get the GPS systems to boot up, each time without success. The plane was filled with the sound of "warning...warning...navigation system not operational" (or something along those lines) and the display remained black. The pilot turned around, happily chewing betel-nut and said "don't worry, I know where we're going," then smiled a wide, red-stained smile, and turned the warning volume nob to mute. And we were off!